ADDRESS 


OF 


DANIEL  READ, 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE 


■»  j*  f 

fate  ||iiiticrj5itg  of  Jjivjotm 


DELIVERED  IN  THE  HALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  IN  ACCORDANCE 

WITH  AN  INVITATION  OF  BOTH  HOUSES, 


Wednesday  Evening.  Feb.  17th,  1869. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  SENATE. 


/ 


* 


AD  DR  ESS 


OF 


DANIEL  READ, 


PRESIDENT  -OF  THE 


DELIVERED  IN  THE  HALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  IN  ACCORDANCE 

WITH  AN  INVITATION  OF  BOTH  HOUSES, 


Wednesday  Evening,  Feb.  17th,  1869. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  SENATE. 


INDIANAPOLIS: 

ALEXANDER  H.  CONNER,  STATE  PRINTER. 


1869. 


vn.vy 


P  n 

r\  * 


A 


ADDRESS, 


Members  of  the  Legislature —  Citizens  of  the  State  of  Indiana : 

Seventeen  years  ago  this  present  winter,  I  stood  in  the  hall  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  your  State,  of  which  I  was  then 
a  citizen,  and  before  the  General  Assembly  and  upon  its  invitation, 
in  the  presence  of  an  audience  of  citizens  as  numerous  and  respec¬ 
table  as  it  has  ever  been  my  lot  anywhere  to  address,  presented 
my  views  on  a  scheme  of  public  education  for  the  State. 

There  were  before  me  on  that  occasion,  as  I  well  remember, 
such  men  as  Governor  Wright,  by  whom  I  was  announced  to  the 
audience,  Oliver  H.  Smith,  John  W.  Davis,  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  Judge  Blackford,  Calvin  Fletcher,  Bishop  Ames, 
Robert  Dale  Owen,  Douglass  Maguire,  Capt.  Gibson,  James  Rari- 
den,  and  other  eminent  citizens  of  the  State.  There  were  also  pres¬ 
ent  such  honored  women  as  Mrs.  Gen.  Drake,  Mrs.  Wm.  J.  Brown, 
Mrs.  Bolton,  Mrs.  Judge  Hammond,  Miss  Laura  Ream  and  others, 
the  elite  of  your  capital.  I  need  not  say  to  you,  fellow  citizens, 
that  it  was  not  the  speaker,  it  was  the  subject  which  called  together 
such  an  audience.  It  was  at  a  time  which  was  regarded  as  a  turn- 
ing  point  in  the  history  of  the  commonwealth.  It  was  just  after 
the  new  Constitution  had  been  adopted  by  an  almost  incredible 
majority;  and  the  first  Legislature  under  that  instrument  was  as¬ 
sembled  to  carry  out  its  behests.  New  foundations  were  to  be 
laid — old  foundations  were  to  be  strengthened.  It  was  at  a  time 
when  a  great  people  were  speaking  forth  their  will  as  to  what  kind 
of  a  commonwealth  they  would  have.  The  question,  what  shall 
be  the  educational  polity  of  the  State,  was  one  which  especially 
interested  all  classes — both  the  people  and  the  Legislature.  The 
principle  of  universal  education  had  been  established  by  the  Con¬ 
stitution,  as  completely  and  as  broadly,  as  in  any  written  constitu¬ 
tion  ever  formed.  Every  child,  under  the  Constitution,  was  de- 


4 


dared  to  have  a  right  to  education,  without  money  and  without 
price,  just  as  much  as  to  breathe  the  air  or  tread  upon  the  earth. 
The  Convention  forming  the  Constitution,  in  order  to  secure  this 
right  and  render  it  forever  possible  and  practical,  had  not  only  made 
all  the  property  of  the  State  taxable  for  the  maintenance  of  schools, 
but  had  absolutely,  without  division  or  debate,  turned  over  to  the 
common  school  fund  not  merely  the  township  fund,  but  every  per¬ 
manent  source  of  revenue  that  could  be  thought  of,  such  as  the 
Surplus  Revenue  Fund,  the  Saline  Fund,  the  Bank  Tax  Fund, 
the  Swamp  Land  Fund,  all  escheated  property  and  other  revenues 
which  I  cannot  estimate.  So  that  at  this  day  Indiana  has  a  larger 
school  fund  than  any  other  State.  I  feel  proud  to  say  it — I  feel 
proud  of  the  little  part  I  had  in  such  a  consummation.  But  the 
Legislation  of  the  State  was  yet  to  be  had,  to  carry  out  the  sub¬ 
lime — yes,  1  say,  sublime  provisions  of  the  Constitution. 

It  was  under  such  circumstances  that  1  was  called  upon  to  ad¬ 
dress  the  Legislature.  What  1  then  said,  and  how  1  fulfilled  the 
duty,  may  yet  be  seen  in  the  public  documents  of  the  State. 

Here,  fellow  citizens,  I  might  for  a  moment  pause  to  give  indul¬ 
gence  to  reminiscences  which  rush  upon  my  mind.  What  an  age 
of  events  since  that  occasion!  What  changes  in  your  city — then 
but  a  village;  in  your  State — with  less  than  half  its  present  popu¬ 
lation;  in  the  nation  itself!  1  can  scarcely  realize  to  myself  that 
Indiana,  which  now  has  more  than  2,500  miles  of  railroad,  had  then 
less  than  one  hundred  miles.  What  a  change,  too,  in  the  rulers  of 
the  people.  Where  are  the  men  mighty  in  council  who  in  that  day 
ruled  the  policies  ol  the  State?  Scarcely  a  single  one  left  even  to 
tell  the  tale  of  the  political  struggles  and  party  tactics  of  the  hour! 

What  lessons,  too,  come  home  to  our  minds  as  we  think  of  t he 

# 

short-lived  contests  and  strifes  for  political  mastery  !  They  sea  ceiy 
last  half  the  generation  that  begets  them.  They  are,  absoiu  ely, 
worth  nothing,  so  far  as  they  are  contests  for  personal  or  party  as¬ 
cendency,  and  are  borne  off  as  the  merest  drift  and  scum  in  the 
swift  stream  which  constitutes  the  continuity  of  society.  It  is  the 
great  institutions  of  a  State — it  is  its  educational  policies — its 
schools — its  universities — its  colleges  of  science  and  art — its  benevo¬ 
lent  institutions — its  great  works  of  improvement,  which  are  the  en¬ 
during  monuments  of  its  progress  and  civilization;  and  he  alone 
is  the  true  statesman — the  statesman  to  be  honored  and  remem¬ 
bered,  who  builds  up  these  institutions  for  his  State. 


5 


I  stand  before  you  again,  fellow  citizens,  in  this  same  Hall,  after 
the  lapse  of  so  many  years  the  citizen  of  another  State,  myself 
changed  with  all  around  me.  I  come  to  speak  to  you  on  the  very 
same  theme  as  then,  a  theme  fundamental  and  vital  in  every  com¬ 
monwealth ;  a  subject  above  every  other  subject  for  the  legislator: 
Universal  Popular  Education;  what  must  be  the  institutions  of  the 
State  to  carry  out  the  grand  idea  of  educating  the  people  in  the 
best  possible  manner;  how  may  your  institutions  of  education  be 
built  up  and  perfected — made  the  glory  and  honor  of  the  State,  the 
pride  and  ambition  of  the  people.  I  come  to  speak  to  you  words 
of  cheer,  derived  from  your  past  history  and  progress — from  what 
you  have  already  done. 

The  question  of  education  is  the  great  question  now,  as  it  was 
then,  it  is  the  question  for  all  times.  It  is  not  a  question  relating 
to  the  material  resources  of  the  State.  It  is  a  question  no  less  than 
this:  What  kind  of  a  people  are  to  make  up  the  State  itself? 
Who  are  to  possess  this  fair  domain  ?  Who  are  to  enjoy  the  mag¬ 
nificent  works  of  improvement  which  cover  your  soil?  In  short 
what  shall  the  State  itself  be?  For,  Jet  it  never  be  forgotten,  the 
people  are  the  State;  nothing  else  is  the  State.  No  sacrifice  is  too 
great,  no  labor  too  arduous  to  make  wise,  and  virtuous,  and  intelli¬ 
gent  citizens.  Depend  upon  it,  here  is  the  greatest  State  action, 
this  is  the  highest  patriotism.  It  is  the  only  reconstruction  which 
will  last.  It  is  reconstruction  for  the  North  as  well  as  for  the 
South.  The  educator — he  alone — not  th<?  politician,  is  the  true  re¬ 
constructor  of  States.  His  work  alone  will  stand. 

You  have,  fellow  citizens,  a  School  Fund  of  more  than  eight  mil¬ 
lions  of  dollars.  But  this,  large  as  it  is,  magnificent  indeed,  is  not 
enough.  It  is  a  grand  beginning.  It  is  a  noble  endowment.  It 
should  stimulate  you  to  make  Indiana,  which  is  the  smallest  of  the 
Western  States  in  territory,  the  first  of  all  in  intelligence  and  in  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge  among  her  people.  But,  bear  you  in  mind, 
you  must  also  tax  yourselves  for  your  schools  and  institutions  of 
education.  Retrench  anywhere,  in  all  directions,  except  in  matters 
of  education.  Tax  yourselves  for  these  objects,  and  you  will  then 
need  very  little  of  taxation  for  crime  or  pauperism, or  lawless  violence. . 
You  will  have  the  best  and  cheapest  public  defence — defence  not 
only  from  external  foes,  but  from  dangers,  whether  moral  or  politi¬ 
cal,  far  more  to  be  dreaded  than  those  arising  from  internal  sources. 
It  is  for  this  reason,  that  one  of  the  great  men  of  our  country,  who 


6 


has  now  passed  off  the  stage  of  action,  has  well  said :  “  In  our 

country  and  in  our  times,  no  man  is  worthy  the  honored  name  of  a 
statesman  who  does  not  include  the  highest  practicable  education 
of  the  people  in  all  his  plans  of  administration.  He  may  have  elo¬ 
quence,  he  may  have  a  knowledge  of  all  history,  diplomacy,  juris¬ 
prudence,  and  by  these  he  may  claim  in  other  countries  the  elevated 
rank  of  a  statesman,  but  unless  he  speaks,  plans,  labors  at  all  times 
and  in  all  places  for  the  culture  and  edification  of  the  whole  people, 
he  is  not,  he  can  not  be  an  American  Statesman.”  He  is  neglect¬ 
ing  the  very  first  duty  of  the  true  statesman.  The  great  object, 
the  noblest  aim  of  every  State  Legislature  should  be  to  sustain 
and  build  up  the  schools,  the  colleges,  the  universities  of  the  State, 
the  very  nurseries  of  freemen,  the  very  foundation  of  the  Republic. 

But  I  have  not  time,  my  fellow  citizens,  to  dwell  on  general  prin¬ 
ciples  or  facts,  however  important  or  pertinent  even,  to  our  general 
subject.  Before  proceeding  however  to  the  more  specific  topics 
upon  which  it  is  my  purpose  to  give  utterance  to  some  thought,  I 
beg  to  quote  in  your  hearing  a  single  paragraph  from  my  address 
to  the  Legislature  of  ’51-52 :  “No  State  of  our  confederacy,”  I 
then  said,  M  is  more  favorably  situated  than  is  Indiana.  Her  climate, 
her  soil,  her  position,  mark  her  out  for  a  grand  destiny;  as  citizens, 
we  feel  proud  of  her  past  progress.  But  there  is  resting  upon  our 
fair  young  State,  which  has  so  many  elements  of  prosperity — there 
is  resting  upon  her  a  blot — a  stain  of  dishonor  which  we,  her  citi¬ 
zens,  must  remove.  The  Seventh  United  States  Census,  which 
has  just  been  published,  shows  in  Indiana  a  vast  increase  of  popu¬ 
lation,  of  wealth,  and  of  production.  It  exhibits  a  most  favorable 
development  of  material  resources  of  all  kinds,  but  it  holds  forth 
the  startling  fact  (I  blush  to  say  it,  as  you  will  to  hear  it)  that  in 
Indiana  there  are  more  than  seventy-five  thousand  adult  persons 
who  cannot  read,  or  write  their  own  names.  Yes,  our  own  Indiana, 
of  all  the  American  States  where  slavery  does  not  exist,  has  the 
argest  population,  in  proportion  to  her  whole  numbers,  who  do  not 
possess  these  simple  elements  of  knowledge.  We  are  written 
down  in  that  great  national  document  which  goes  forth  to  our  sis¬ 
ter  Status,  and  to  the  whole  world,  as  standing  among  the  free 
States,  the  lowest  in  the  scale  of  popular  education,  and  among  the 
lowest  of  all  the  States.  I  know  not  how  others  may  feel;  but  for 
myself  I  feel  this  to  be  a  reproach — a  foul  disgrace  such  as  I  cannot 
consent  to  bear.” 


7 


It  was  the  fact  here  mentioned  which  greatly  stirred  up  the  lead¬ 
ing  men  of  Indiana,  and  impelled  them  to  higher  effort  and  better 
action  on  the  subject  of  common  school  education. 

I  proceeded  further  to  say:  “We  must  not  flatter  or  deceive  our¬ 
selves  in  a  concern  so  momentous;  we  must  understand  the  facts 
of  the  case,  and  look  at  them  as  they  are,  and  prepare  for  action 
with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work  to  be  done. 
Our  Common  Schools  must  be  made  the  pride  and  ornament  of 
the  State — they  must,  as  required  by  the  fundamental  law,  be 
open  to  all,  without  money  and  without  price ;  so  that  the  same 
may  be  said  of  Indiana  which  Horace  Mann  said  of  Massachu¬ 
setts,  that  a  child  would  be  as  much  astonished  at  being  asked  to 
pay  any  sum,  however  small,  for  attending  our  Common  Schools, 
as  he  would,  if  payment  were  demanded  of  him  for  walking  in  the 
public  street,  for  breathing  the  common  air,  or  enjoying  the  light  of 
the  un appropriable  Sun.” 

I  proposed  action,  immediate — universal,  earnest,  resolute — to 
•  reverse  the  exhibit  made  by  the  census  of  ’50 ;  and  that  the  mark 
to  be  aimed  at  for  the  next  census — that  of  ’60— should  be :  Indi¬ 
ana,  the  first  of  American  States,  not  in  the  com  produced — not 
In  the  pork  packed — not  in  the  number  of  plank  or  rail  roads  in 
proportion  to  area — but  Indiana,  first  of  all  the  States,  in  the 
number  of  its  population  attending  school,  in  proportion  to  total 
population.” 

In  order  to  work  out  this  result — this  problem— I  proposed  and 
urged  the  following  measures,  which  were  most  .ably  and  earnestly 
seconded  and  sustained  by  good  men  throughout  the  State. 

First  of  all,  I  proposed  that  the  office  of  School  Superintendent — 
a  new  office  created  by  the  Constitution— should  be  filled  by  the 
very  ablest  man  the  State  could  command,  without  the  slightest 
reference  to  sect  or  party — a  man  who,  by  burning  words,  could 
stir  up  both  the  people  and  the  teachers — one  who,  like  Guizot,  the 
the  minister  of  public  instruction  in  France,  could,  by  his  circulars, 
reports,  and  Educational  tracts,  carry  with  him,  to  every  part  of 
the  State,  the  power  of  a  constant  personal  presence  and  influence. 

I  proposed  a  great  and  universal  revival  among  the  teachers,  by 
the  holding  of  institutes,  associations,  and  other  meetings  of  teach- 
ers.  I  insisted  upon  introducing  a  larger  proportion  of  female 
teachers  into  our  common  schools ;  and  also  upon  higher  qualifica¬ 
tions  for  all  teachers ;  and  endeavored  to  show  how  this  end  could 


be  best  attained — and  especially  through  the  agency  of  the  Normal 
School. 

I  proposed  for  cities  and  towns  the  system  of  graded  schools,  or,, 
as  they  were  then  called^  “union”  schools,  as  cheapest,  best,  most 
systematic,  and  affording  the  means  of  the  highest  education. 
These  schools'  did  not  exist  at  all  in  the  State,  unless  in  a  very 
crude  and  imperfect  condition  at  Madison,  and  perhaps  at  New 
Albany.  The  very  idea  was  hardly  understood  among  the  people, 
and  I  procured  from  Mr.-  Lorin  Andrews,  of  Ohio,  an  able  and  ex¬ 
cellent  letter,  explanatory  of  the  system,- and  eloquently  urging  its 
adoption. 

Lastly,  I  proposed  the  Township  School  Library,  of  which  Mr 
Robert  Dale  became  so  efficient  an  advocate,  and  which,  as  chair¬ 
man  of  the  School  Committee  in  the  Legislature,  he  introduced 
into  the  School  System  of  the  State. 

These  were  the  practical  agences — the  working  plan,  if  you 
please,  which  I  ventured  to  propose  to  the  people  and  the  Legisla¬ 
ture,  upon  the  occasion  referred  to.  I  have  not  time  to  state  the 
arguments  by  which  I  urged  and  defended  them.  I  claim  little 
merit  in  the  matter — at  any  rate,- 1  did  but  my  duty.  You  knowy 
quite  as  well  as  myself,  how  far  these  measures  were  adopted.  I 
was  soon  called  to  another  field  of  labor,  and  other  better  men  car¬ 
ried  forward  the  work. 

Now  let  us  see  what  was  actually  done  in  that  decade  (from  ’50  to 
’60).  The  State  grew  largely  in  population  (some  thirty-six  per  cent), 
while  the  amount  of  ignorance  (taking  reading  and  writing  as  the 
standard)  was  diminished  nearly  one-half  in  proportion  to  the 
whole  population.  And  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  material 
outfit  of  school  buildings,  furniture  and  apparatus  have  more  than 
kept  pace  with  this  general  improvement.  Your  population  is  now 
over  two  millions,  and  I  feel  sure  there  has  been  in  this  decade  no 
retrocession  —  there  has  been  no  going  back.  But,  I  pray  you,  fel¬ 
low  citizens,  do  not  think  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  nothing  remains 
to  be  done  in  beating  back  the  tide  of  popular  ignorance  and  ele¬ 
vating  your  educational  standard.  My  object  is  to  show  how  much 
may  be  done,  and  in  how  short  a  time,  by  good  and  true  men, 
when  they  set  themselves  to  work  in  earnest. 

But  I  must  pass  to  other  topics,  for  I  desire  to  speak  not  merely 
of  Common  Schools,  but  of  other  institutions  which  pertain  to 
you,  as  a  civilized  people  aiming  at  the  highest  excellence  in  sci¬ 
ence,  literature  and  the  arts,  both  practical  and  aesthetic. 


9 


First  of  all,  of  the  Normal  School,  as  intimately  connected  with? 
the  whole  system  of  Common  School  education.  And  here  I  have 
but  to  cheer  you  on.  You  have  taken  forward  steps,  and  cannot  go 
back,  I  will  repeat  here  what,  a  few  weeks  since,  I  said  to  certain 
gentlemen  at  Terre  Haute,  after  I  had  carefully  examined  that  noble- 
edifice  designed  for  the  State  Normal  School,  so  far  as  completed, 
and  the  plans  wherein  not  completed.  I  said  to  these  gentlemen 
what  I  know  to  be  true :  u  You  have  here  by  far  the  best  building 
for  the  object  on  the  continent.”  This  is  not  too  strong  language. 
The  Normal  building  of  Minnesota  at  Winona,  cosling  $120,000, 
that  of  Illinois  at  Normal,  costing  $180,000,  that  of  New  Jersey 
at  Trenton,  a  very  costly  building,  will  not  compare  in  accommo¬ 
dation,  or  in  the  substantial  excellence  of  the  structure,  with  your 
Normal  School  building  at  Terre  Haute,  And  in  naming  these,  I 
have  spoken  of  the  best,  not  excepting  the  Canada  Training  School 
building  at  Toronto,  which  also  ranks  as  one  of  the  best  in  any 
country. 

Your  building,  so  complete  as  to  arrangement,  warming,  ventila¬ 
tion  and  other  appointments,  so  grand  and  imposing  as  to  its  style 
of  architecture,  so  substantial  as  to  its  material  and  structure,  is  an 
indication  of  the  intention  of  the  State  to  have  not  only  the  best 
building,  but  the  best  and  most  completely  organized  school  in  the 
United  States.  I  see  no  reason  why  it  may  not  be  made  such  ; 
and  how  honorable  to  the  State  to  have  it  such  !  This  should  be 
the  high  aim  of  Indiana— -of  gallant,  noble  Indiana.  Thus  far  you 
have  been  singularly  fortunate;  not  more  so  in  the  building  than 
in  the  location.  I  know  not  where  any  one  could  go  in  the  whole 
country  to  find  a  better  site  than  Terre  Haute  for  such  an  institu¬ 
tion.  The  city  is  perfectly  accessible;  not  too  large,  yet  large 
enough  to  furnish  the  model  school  with  the  best  class  of  pupils; 
the  inhabitants  are  an  industrious,  well-to-do  people,  rapidly  ad¬ 
vancing  in  the  industries  and  refinements  of  life.  It  is,  in  short, 
a  place  where  all  the  surroundings  will  contribute  to  the  best  cul¬ 
ture  of  the  students.  I  say,  thus  far  you  have  been  peculiarly  for¬ 
tunate  in  your  beginnings.  I  see  no  mistake  or  misstep.  May  the 
State  be  equally  fortunate  in  what  remains  to  be  done. 

At  this  day,  fellow  citizens,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  argue  the 
value  of  the  Normal,  or  Training  School  (as  called  in  Great  Brit¬ 
ain)  in  a  scheme  of  public  education.  The  only  hope  of  improving 
our  schools  is  by  improving  our  teachers — of  training  them  for  their 


10 


peculiar  vocation.  Here  is  the  very  first  step  toward  improvement; 
and  this  is  the  direction  of  effort  now  everywhere  being  made  by 
the  intelligent  friends  of  educational  progress.  Good  schools 
through  the  ministry  of  ignorant  or  unskilled  teachers  is  a  manifest 
impossibility.  The  Normal  Training  School  is  the  admitted  and 
recognized  agency  for  the  improvement  of  the  methods  of  instruc¬ 
tion. 

Mr,  Rice,  the  Superintendent  of  Instruction  in  New  York,  makes 
this  most  striking  declaration :  u  That  it  would  have  been  a  saving 
in  the  expenditure  of  money,  and  far  better  for  the  schools  of  the 
State,  had  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  been  annually,  during  the 

past  twenty  years,  deducted  from  the  sum  apportioned  to  the  school 

• 

districts,  and  applied  to  the  support  of  Normal  Training  Schools.” 
If  this  is  true  of  New  York,  where  so  many  facilities  exist  for  pre¬ 
paring  teachers,  how  much  more  true  is  it  of  Indiana?  Far  better 
would  it  be  for  the  interests  of  education  in  your  State — I  say  this 
advisedly- — to  appropriate  the  income  of  one  million  of  your  School 
Fund  to  train  professionally  your  teachers  than  to  turn  over  the 
whole  income  directly  to  the  schools.  It  will  be,  as  Mr.  Rice  has 
said  of  New  York,  an  absolute  saving  of  money;  it  will  be  public 
economy.  You  cannot  have  good  schools  without  good  teachers. 
The  Normal  School  is  just  as  important  in  training  the  teacher  as 
the  Medical  School  in  training  the  physician, 

I  am  in  favor  of  economy  always  in  the  administration  of  public 
funds,  and  especially  in  these  times;  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
parsimony  is  the  worst  economy.  Let  the  hand  of  retrenchment 
strike  any  where,  rather  than  upon  our  institutions  of  education — 
those  institutions  which  of  all  others,  constitute  the  glory  of  a 
State,  nay,  its  very  salvation.  Education  is  even  better  than 
retrenchment. 

You  are  to  remember,  much  yet  remains  to  be  done  for  your 
State  Normal  School,  in  order  to  carry  out  the  design  commensu¬ 
rate  with  the  beginning.  Not  only  is  the  building  to  be  completed, 
but  furniture,  library,  apparatus,  maps,  models,  etc.,  are  to  be  pro¬ 
cured,  and  then  you  are  to  support  an  able  and  competent  Faculty. 
It  is  an  admirable  arrangement  which  divides  the  expense  with  the 
city  of  Terre  Haute— that  is,  if  I  understand  the  plan,  throws  the 
expense  of  supoorting  this  model  school  upon  the  city. 

I  would  go  even  further  than  providing  the  appointments  which 
I  have  named.  It  is,  as  I  think,  greatly  to  the  honor  of  Mr.  Ryerson, 


11 


of  the  Canada  Normal  School  at  Toronto,  that  he  procured 
for  that  School,  and  had  them  placed  in  a  suitable  gallery,  copies 
of  paintings  of  the  great  masters  of  the  art,  and  also  the  noblest 
specimens,  in  plaster,  of  the  stutuary  of  all  ages,  as  well  as  models 
of  temples  and  other  works  of  art.  This  was  to  aid  in  the  aesthetic 
education  of  the  pupil.  Is  this  too  high  civilization  for  Indiana? 

You  are  to  remember  that  the  benefit  of  the  School  will  be,  not 
merely  in  the  direct  training  of  the  teachers.  It  will  stand  in  your 
midst,  an  unconscious  teacher — it  will  elevate  the  profession  through¬ 
out  the  State — it  will  give  it  tone  and  dignity — it  will  cause  every 
teacher  of  the  State  to  feel  prouder  of  his  profession — it  will  be  a 
perpetual  monitor  calling  him  to  higher  effort  to  qualify  himself  for 
his  work.  In  this  respect  it  was  wise  policy  to  build  up  one  Nor¬ 
mal  Institution  for  the  State,  rather  than  half  a  dozen  inferior 
schools  which  would  have  but  a  neighborhood  influence,  and  would 
awaken  no  sentiment  of  professional  pride. 

I  know  very  well  such  equipments  as  I  propose  will  cost  money. 
You  cannot  carry  on  the  Institution  without  the  nerves  and  sinews 
of  all  useful  enterprise;  and  yet  I  say  to  you,  it  will  prove  to  your 
State  the  very  cheapest  agency  of  education,  and  the  higher  the 
cost,  if  that  cost  be  judicious,  the  cheaper  it  will  be.  In  saying 
this,  I  use  no  paradox. 

If  I  might  venture  to  propose  to  that  most  distinguished  and 
excellent  citizen,  Mr.  Chauncey  Rose,  an  object  worthy  his  liberal¬ 
ity — it  would  be  to  afford  to  the  Normal  School  at  Terre  Haute 
the  means  of  procuring  the  works  of  art  such  as  Mr.  Ryerson  pro¬ 
cured  for  the  Canada  school.  Copies  of  the  greatest  paintings  of 
the  world — precisely  as  valuable  as  the  originals  for  the  purpose  in 
view — were  had  at  a  comparatively  insignificant  price;  I  think  Mr. 
Ryerson  told  me  the  paintings  and  models  which  he  procured  in 
Europe  cost  but  about  $5,000.  Such  a  gallery  would  prove  a  great 
attraction,  would  improve  the  taste,  would  impart  just  notions  of 
art,  and  I  can  hardly  conceive  a  nobler  object  for  wealth  and  libe¬ 
rality. 

But  all  these  things,  desirable,  essential  indeed,  as  they  are,  will 
not  make  your  School  a  success,  without  a  man  at  its  head  to  organ¬ 
ize  and  give  it  a  right  start.  You  must  have  a  man  of  experience, 
a  man  of  wisdom,  of  tact,  of  talent  for  his  especial  work,  and  of 
indomitable  energy.  He  must  have  a  rare  combination  of  excel¬ 
lencies  such  as  is  difficult  to  find.  YYi.  want  one  who  can,  and 


12 


will  be,  a  leader  of  education  in  the  State.  Such  a  man  will  be 
to  you  above  all  price  just  at  this  juncture.  I  doubt  not  you  have 
men  who  have  grown  up  with  this  enterprise,  who  will  be  suitable 
to  lead  it. 

The  single  thing  to  be  considered  is  professional  qualification. 
It  is  not  sect,  or  party  or  clique.  And  here  may  I  be  allowed  to 
say,  when  I  was  a  citizen  of  Indiana,  it  seemed  to  me,  that  the 
question  of  sect  had  quite  too  much  influence — a  deteriorating  and 
belittling  influence.  1  am  as  much  as  any  man  in  favor  of  main¬ 
taining  education  upon  a  Christian  basis,  for  the  reason  that  Chris¬ 
tianity  and  civilization  are  identical.  But  when  sect  puts  forward 
its  claims,  it  has  very  little  of  modesty  ;  and  we  have  seen  it  place 
stolid  ignorance  and  questionable  morality  in  the  highest  places  in 
our  highest  seats  of  learning. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  our  great  American  seats  of  learn¬ 
ing — even  those  which  had  an  ecclesiastical  origin,  have  in  the 
progress  of  enlightened  sentiment,  ceased  to  be  ecclesiastical. 
Who  now  at  Cambridge  would  inquire  into  the  sect  of  Agasiz  or 
of  Lieber  at  Columbia,  or  of  the  most  eminent  Professors  at  Yale? 

In  England,  the  clamps  of  ecclesiasticism  have  kept  the  Univer¬ 
sities  from  the  growth,  expansion  and  adaptedness  of  those  of  the 
Continent,  until  such  men  as  Professor  Tyndall  and  Dr.  Lyon  Play¬ 
fair  have  expressed  the  opinion,  that  unless  there  shall  be  a  change 
in  their  system  of  education,  England  will  soon  find  herself  out¬ 
stripped  in  all  the  arts  of  peace  and  war. 

In  alluding  to  the  industrial  education  of  the  Continent,  I  can¬ 
not  forbear  stepping  aside  to  make  mention  of  the  progress  in  this 
direction  which  has  ever  extended  itself  over  the  vast  empire  of 
Russia.  It  was  my  lot  the  last  winter,  to  meet  with  our  Secretary 
of  Legation  to  that  country.  In  a  most  interesting  conversation, 
he  told  me  much  of  the  University  at  St.  Petersburg;  and  among 
other  things,  that  the  latest  improvements  in  agricultural  imple¬ 
ments  for  the  Illinois  prairies,  were  exhibited  in  the  Polytechnic 
department  of  the  University,  as  model  instruments  for  the  plains 
and  steppes  of  Russia  ;  and  that  in  traveling  the  whole  distance 
from  the  Russian  Capital  to  the  countries  of  the  Danube  and  the 
Black  Sea,  he  everywhere  witnessed  evidence  of  rapid  progress  and 
improvement,  as  much  as  in  the  Western  States  of  America.  He 
told  me  the  great  industrial  schools  were  working  a  most  valuable 
result  by  sending  out  scientific  men  to  be  managers  and  agents  in 
farming  and  manufacturing  industries. 


13 


But.  I  pass  to  another  topic  of  great  moment  to  the  honor  and 
interest  of  the  State  of  Indiana — and  that  is,  the  institution  to  be 
built  up  as  a  College  of  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts.  On 
this  subject  you  have  acted  slowly,  and  are  among  the  last  of  the 
States  to  provide  for  the  establishment  of  the  required  Institution. 

In  your  laws  of  March  6th,  1865,  you  accept  the  grant  in  the 
following  strong  terms:  u  That  the  State  of  Indiana  accepts  and 
claims  the  benefit  of  the  provisions  of  said  act  of  Congress,  and  as  a 
party  to  all  the  conditions  and  provisions  in  said  act  contained.” 

The  interest  of  this  subject,  my  fellow  citizens  of  Indiana,  is  not 
bounded  by  State  lines — it  pertains  to  the  whole  nation — the  citi¬ 
zen  of  Ohio — the  citizen  of  Illinois — the  citizen  of  Massachusetts. 
You  are  indeed  the  immediate  trustees  and  guardians  of  this 
benificent  grant ;  but  ev'ery  American  citizen  will  partake  of  the 
honor  and  benefits  of  the  institution  to  be  built  up  and  maintained 
by  it.  Every  American  citizen  is  interested  that  you  should  dis¬ 
pose  of  this  grant  in  the  best  and  wisest  manner. 

I  claim  my  share  in  the  glory  and  renown  of  the  Institutions  of 
Indiana,  though  not  a  citizen  of  the  State.  They  are  part  and 
parcel  of  the  institutions  of  my  country,  and  elevate  American 
civilization. 

In  assenting,  as  you  do,  to  all  the  conditions  and  provisions  in 
said  act  contained,  in  order  fully  to  comprehend  th^  duties  and  ob¬ 
ligations  which  the  State  thereby  assumes,  it  will  be  well  for  a 
moment  to  glance  at  the  history  of  the  grant  itself,  and  also  its 
specific  provisions  and  requirements,  as  well  as  its  objects. 

First,  its  history  in  the  briefest  words  possible. 

Prior  to  the  introduction  of  the  bill  into  Congress,  much  agita¬ 
tion  and  consultation  were  nece>sarily  required.  If  Prof.  Turner, 
then  of  the  Jacksonville  College,  Illinois,  was  not  the  author  of  the 
measure,  he  was,  at  least,  one  of  its  earliest  and  most  enthusiastic 
advocates.  I  confess  I  had  myself  little  faith  that  the  proposed 
measure  could  succeed  in  Congress,  as  then  organized;  but  at  the 
earnest  and  repeated  solicitations  of  Prof.  Turner,  I  wrote  Mr. 
Douglass  more  than  once  on  the  subject 

Near  the  commencement  of  Mr.  Buchanan’s  administration,  viz: 
December,  1857,  the  measure  was  so  matured  that  it  was  brought 
forward  in  the  form  of  a  bill — a  particularly  well  considered  bill — 
the  bill,  indeed,  which  finally  passed.  This  bill  was  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Public  Lands,  was  reported  against  by  a  majority — 


14 


a  minority  of  the  committee,  however,  making  a  favorable  report — 
and  was  passed,  under  the  operation  of  the  previous  question,  by 
a  vote  of  105  to  102.  The  opposition  came  largely  from  those 
States  where  intelligent  and  educated  labor  was  least  valued. 

In  the  Senate  it  met  the  opposition  of  Jeff.  Davis,  I.  M.  Mason 
and  Pugh  of  Ohio.  The  bill,  however,  passed  that  body  by  a  vote 
of  25  to  22,  and  went  to  President  Buchanan,  who  vetoed  it. 

In  the  36th  Congress — the  first  Congress  under  President  Lin¬ 
coln’s  administration — the  same  bill  was  introduced  into  the  Sen¬ 
ate,  and  passed  that  body  by  a  vote  of  32  to  7.  It  then  went  to 
the  House  and  passed  that  body  without  any  other  debate  than  the 
able  speech  of  Mr.  Morrill,  by  a  vote  of  90  to  25,  and  was  approved 
by  the  President  July  2,  1862. 

Thus,  after  five  years  of  delay  and  opposition,  the  measure  be¬ 
came  a  part  of  the  established  policy  of  the  country.  Provision 
was  thus  made  for  the  establishment  and  endowment  of  an  Amer¬ 
ican  practical  scientific  school.  It  was  a  great  step  forward.  It 
will  result,  when  all  the  States  and  Territories  are  represented  in  the 
grant,  in  the  establishment  of  over  forty  such  institutions.  No  man 
can  calculate  the  results  of  this  grand  national  movement  now  and 
for  generations  of  men  to  come,  if  the  States,  as  the  Trustees,  shall 
perform  their  duty  wisely  and  well. 

The  measure  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  strong  and  growing  senti¬ 
ment,  existing  nowhere  more  strongly  than  in  the  Colleges.  Indeed, 
Harvard,  and  Yale,  and  Union,  and  Columbia,  had,  through  the 
munificence  of  Individuals,  already  provided  for  schools  of  agricul¬ 
tural  chemisty,  engineering,  mining,  and  other  practical  arts.  All 
the  colleges  were,  in  fact,  struggling  on  in  the  same  direction,  but 
were  hampered  by  the  want  of  means.  The  projectors  and  advo¬ 
cates  of  the  bill  were,  almost  without  exception,  College  men  who 
saw  the  necessity  of  extending  and  modifying  our  system  of  edu¬ 
cation — of  making  it  more  practical — or,  indeed,  rather  of  uniting 
science  with  application. 

Harvard  had  gone  so  far  in  this  practical  direction  that  a  writer 
in  the  North  American  Review  said  if  any  body  would  give  the 
University  a  cotton  mill,  she  would  doubtless  run  it  in  the  interests 
of  science.  This  much  I  feel  bound  to  say  in  behalf  of  myself  and 
professional  brethren,  because  some  have  represented  that  the  col¬ 
leges  were  opposed  to  practical  education,  and  in  fact,  the  enemies 
of  this  particular  bill.  The  very  reverse  is  the  truth. 


15 


Let  us  now  for  a  moment  look  at  the  act  itself  making-  the  grant* 
What  does  the  law  provide?  What  does  it  require?  What  are 
the  conditions  which  you  on  your  part  solemnly  engage  to  fulfill 
and  carry  out  ? 

First.  Every  State,  except  those  in  rebellion,  may,  under  the 
act,  receive  a  quantity  of  land  equal  to  thirty  thousand  acres  for 
each  of  its  Senators  and  Representatives,  according  to  the  census 
of  1860,  or  in  the  States  where  there  is  not  the  land,  scrip  in  lieu 
thereof,  at  one  dollar  and  twenty-jive  cents  an  acre.  The  least  pop¬ 
ulous  State  receives  ninety  thousand  acres,  the  most  populous  nine 
hundred  and  ninety  thousand  acres.  The  whole  grant  amounts  to 
fourteen  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine  square  miles,  or  a 
territory,  if  the  land  were  in  a  body,  equal  to  the  States  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  or  about  equal  to  Belgium 
or  Holland.  You  of  Indiana  receive  of  the  great  national  bounty, 
three  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  acres,  or  equivalent  scrip  there¬ 
for,  and  Indiana  is  the  fourth  State  in  the  amount  received.  Now 
what  will  you  do  with  this  great  gift?  That  is  the  important 
question. 

Second .  Provisions  and  restrictions  are  made  in  regard  to  the 
selection  of  the  land;  one  of  these  being  that  no  State  shall  locate 
its  scrip  within  the  territory  of  another,  though,  of  course,  its  as¬ 
signees  may  do  so.  Mr.  Cornell  has  made  a  large  location  of  land 
with  the  New  York  scrip — pine  land  in  Wisconsin  and  Michigan, 
which  to-day  would  sell  for  ten  dollars  per  acre,  for  t  he  benefit  of 
the  Cornell  University— -thus  swelling  to  immense  proportions  the 
magnificent  endowment  of  that  institution. 

Third.  The  whole  expense  of  locating  the  land  and  managing 
the  funds  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  land,  or  of  the  scrip  arising 
therefrom,  must  be  paid  by  the  State*  Not  a  dollar  can  be  paid 
out  of  the  fund  itself.  This  is  an  important  improvement  upon 
the  Seminary,  or  State  University  grant. 

Fourth .  The  proceeds  must  be  invested  in  safe  stocks,  yielding 
not  less  than  five  per  cent,  per  annum. 

Fifth.  What  for?  That  question  is  answered  in  these  words 
of  the  act  itself :  “  For  the  endowment,  support  and  maintenance 

of  at  least  one  College,  where  the  leading  object  shall  be,  without 
excluding  other  scientific  and  classical  studies,  and  including  mili¬ 
tary  tactics;  to  teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legisla- 


16 


tures  of  the  States  may  prescribe,  in  order  to  promote  the  libera 
and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pur¬ 
suits  and  professions  of  life.” 

What  grand  and  expansive  views  of  Education!  How  the 
whole  wide  field  of  human  learning  is  here  embraced.  No  slur 
upon  Classical  studies— no  spite  against  Latin  and  Greek  even! 
The  term  “liberal,”  as  well  as  “practical,”  are  expressly  used,  as 
comprehending  the  objects  aimed  at  in  the  education  of  the  indus¬ 
trial  classes  in  the  pursuits  and  professions  of  life.  No  learning  too 
high  or  too  good  for  the  industrial  classes!  What  right  has  any 
man  to  step  forward  and  propose  to  limit  or  annul  these  grand 
provisions  ? 

There  are  still  other  provisions — wise,  judicious — designed  to 
preserve  the  fund  forever  intact.  One-tenth  of  the  capital  may  be 
used  for  the  purchase  of  a  site  or  a  farm.  No  part  of  the  fund 
can  ever  be  applied  to  building  or  repairs*  Not  a  dollar  for  brick 
or  mortar.  These  must  in  some  way  be  provided  for  by  the  State. 
No  such  condition  of  things  can  exist  as  in  Minnesota,  where  the 
whole  University  fund  was  expended  upon  a  building,  leaving 
nothing  to  support  the  institution.  An  annual  report  is  also  re¬ 
quired,  to  be  sent  out  to  the  country,  and  to  all  kindred  institutions. 

Having  accepted  the  grant,  with  its  various  conditions  and  obli¬ 
gations,  it  devolves  upon  the  Legislature  to  prescribe  the  manner 
according  to  which  the  object  of  the  grant  shall  be  secured. 

Congress,  in  creating  the  endowment  and  prescribing  its  objects, 
and  securing  the  fund  by  wise  provisions,  leaves  the  rest  to  the  States. 

The  questions  which  the  States  had  to  determine  are  such  as 
the  following: 

Shall  there  be  one  College,  or  more  than  one? 

Shall  the  College  to  be  established,  be  united  with  a  State  Uni¬ 
versity  already  existing,  or  with  any  other  existing  institution,  or 
shall  a  new  institution,  separate  and  apart  from  all  others,  be  es¬ 
tablished  and  maintained? 

What  shall  be  the  particular  organization  of  the  institution — 
shall  the  tuition  be  free — shall  the  student  be  required  to  perform 
a  particular  amount  of  manual  labor? 

Such  questions  are  for  the  Legislature — only  the  Legislature 
must  establish  at  least  one  College,  where  the  leading  object  shall 
be  to  teach  such  branches  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  me¬ 
chanic  arts,  including  military  tactics,  without  excluding  scientific 


17 


and  classical  studies,  in  order,  says  the  Bill,  to  promote  the  libera 
and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pur* 
suits  and  professions  of  life. 

Here  is  the  true  order:  first,  the  liberal,  the  scientific;  then 
follow  the  practical — first,  to  know ,  then  to  do.  Here  has  been 
the  popular  objection  to  our  Colleges— too  much  theory — too  little 
practice.  This  the  Colleges  have  been  trying  to  correct,  but  had 
not  the  means;  for,  you  must  bear  in  mind,  that  apparatus  for 
practice  is  exceedingly  costly. 

When  we  think  of  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  education  as 
required  in  this  act  of  Congress,  we  cannot  be  surprised  that  the 
grant  has  nowhere  been  divided.  That  question  was  early  settled 
by  the  action  of  the  States  accepting  the  grant.  It  was  indeed 
settled  beyond  this,  that  the  entire  grant,  even  where  it  was  largest, 
was  insufficient  to  endow  a  single  institution  commensurate  with 
the  extent  of  the  objects  to  be  provided  for. 

New  York,  with  her  nine  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  acres 
falling  to  her  share,  not  only  did  not  divide  or  disperse  the  fund 
arising  therefrom,  but  united  it  with  the  magnificent  gift  of  Ezra 
Cornell  of  a  half  million  in  cash,  together  with  lands  and  buildings 
worth  half  as  much  more.  The  same  with  Pennsylvania,  though 
her  share  was  seven  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  acres,  and  Ohio, 
also,  with  her  six  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  acres.  In  the 
grandeur  and  comprehensiveness  of  the  scheme  laid  down  in  the 
act,  wts  see  why  these  great  States,  as  in  fact  all  the  other  States* 
perhaps  without  an  exception,  have  united  their  land  grants  either 
with  existing  institutions  already  well  endowed,  or  with  new  en¬ 
dowments  created  expressly  to  be  united  with  the  grant,  and  thus 
to  build  up  institutions  worthy  the  American  name. 

The  curse  and  bane  of  our  highest  literary  and  scientific  educa¬ 
tion  has  been  the  undue  multiplication  of  institutions  for  its  sup¬ 
port.  This  is  true  of  every  part  of  our  country,  and  more  particu¬ 
larly  of  the  Western  States,  until  the  name  College ,  or  the  more 
high  sounding  one,  University,  is  almost  a  subject  of  derision. 

On  this  subject  I  would  be  glad  to  repeat  to  you  the  opinions  of 
the  first  educators  of  the  country.  But  my  time  is  too  limited.  I 
will,  however,  venture  to  give  that  of  Henry  Barnard,  now  the 
Commissioner  of  Education  of  the  National  Bureau*  and  also  those 
of  some  other  eminent  men  in  the  field  of  education.  u  The  needs 
of  society,”  says  Mr.  Barnard,  “have  called  these  institutions  into 
A.  D.  R.— 2 


existence  in  every  civilized  country,  and  in  every  age;  but  with  us 
their  real  or  supposed  connection  with  religious  or  local  inter  sts 
have  multiplied  them  beyond  any  demand  for  higher  scholarship, 
and  it  is  to  be  feared,  not  only  to  the  injury  of  each  other,  but  to 
the  great  detriment  of  the  highest  culture,  which  is  only  possible 
under  the  concentration,  in  a  few  centers  of  a  large  extent  of  coun¬ 
try,  of  a  numerous  body  of  learned  and  eloquent  men,  representing 
all  the  departments  of  literature,  science  and  art,  aided  by  cabinets, 
libraries,  labratories  and  other  means  of  exhaustive  investigation 
and  demonstration.”  This  is  the  opinion  of  a  man  who  has  ex¬ 
plored  every  European  country,  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the 
Baltic,  in  pursuit  of  knowledge  as  to  all  classes  of  institutions  of 
education — a  man  who  knows  more  on  this  subject  than  any  other 
man  living. 

Mr.  White,  now  the  Chancellor  of  the  Cornell  University,  when, 
as  a  member  of  the  New  York  Senate,  advocating  not  only  the 
unitv  of  the  Land  Grant  Fund  in  that  State,  but  its  union  with 
Mr;  Cornell’s  magnificent  offer,  utters  this  language:  “We  have 
thrown  away  the  benefits  arising  from  the  concentration  of  higher 
educational  effort,  and  have  accepted  all  the  evils  arising  from 
scattering  and  division  until,  instead  of  one  or  two  strong  institu¬ 
tions,  we  have  a  score  of  small  ones — each  feeble,  each  poor,  each 
incompletely  equipped,  each  obliged  to  resort  to  continual  beggary, 
each  forced  to  abate  from  thorough  discipline.”  What  a  picture? 
but  how  true — drawn  to  the  very  life ! 

The  language  of  Dr.  Bowman,  who  is  the  founder  of  the  Ken¬ 
tucky  University,  is  even  more  forcible  and  striking.  ByT  the  un- 
paralelied  zeal  and  efforts  of  this  noble  man  in  uniting  several  en¬ 
dowments,  and  through  the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature  concentra¬ 
ting  them  with  the  land  grant,  he  has  laid  the  foundation  of  a  great 
University  which  will  forever  confer  renown  upon  his  native  State. 
The  large  endowment,  the  number  of  professors,  the  various  and 
complete  appointments,  in  all  the  departments,  the  site  of  the  Uni¬ 
versity,  on  the  hallowed  ground  of  Ashland,  where  the  very  air  is 
redolent  with  patriotism,  have  already  commanded  success,  and  the 
Kentucky  University,  though  but  just  starting,  has,  in  its  various 
departments,  some  six  hundred  students. 

Allow  me  now  to  say  to  you,  my  fellow  citizens  of  Indiana,  that 
in  order  to  complete  your  educational  system,  you  need,  not  only 
your  noble  Normal  Institution — you  need  also  a  State  University, 

.  -  i  c  i 


a  University  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  You  need  a  Uni¬ 
versity  which  will  be  an  honor  and  an  ornament  to  the  State;  one 
which  shall  everywhere  be  pointed  to  as  among  the  great  institu¬ 
tions  of  the  nation  ;  one  which,  as  a  Michigan  farmer  said  to  me 
the  University  of  that  Stale  did,  will  add  value  to  everv  acre  of 
land  in  the  State.  As  a  State,  you  are  bound  to  contribute  such 
an  institution  to  our  national  civilization.  Your  last  Legislature 
made  an  annual  appropriation  of  $8,000  to  the  University,  but  this 
is  not  enough.  The  University  of  Michigan  has  to-day  over  one 
thousand  students,  and  this  is  not  a  count  of  boys  and  girls — a 
drag-net  to  make  a  show  of  numbers,  but  of  professional  and  col¬ 
lege  students.  But  Michigan  expends  from  $60,000  to  $80,000  a 
year.  It  is  judiciously  done,  and  hence  the  secret  of  her  success. 
Do  you  expect  to  do  the  same  with  one-fourth  the  amount  ?  Do 
you  know  how  many  of  your  young  men  go  out  of  the  State  for 
their  education,  because  you  have  no  institution  of  that  high  ordpr 
which  meets  their  wishes  ?  At  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  students 
from  Indiana  seek  their  education  in  other  States. 

You  have  now  a  great  opportunity.  ]  must  be  permitted  to  say 
to  you  what  I  have  said  to  other  State  Legislatures  :  unite  the  land 
grant  with  the  University  Fund,  or,  if  any  would  choose  a  different 
form  of  wording,  turn  over  all  the  University  endowments,  build¬ 
ings  and  appointments  to  the  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic 
Arts,  in  as  full  and  ample  a  manner  as  though  created  for  it  alone. 
I  cannot  anywhere  express  different  views.  In  order  to  carry  out 
the  programme  of  subjects  required  to  be  taught  in  the  College  of 
Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts,  you  need  all  the  elementary  in¬ 
struction  now  given  in.  the  University.  Why  duplicate  the  very 
means  you  have?  Why  reject  what  you  have,  in  otder  to  create, 
at  a  large  cost,  the  same  thing  ? 

I  have  just  visited  three  Agricultural  schools,  and  very  carefully 
examined  their  plan  and  workings.  A  large  portion  of  the  course  is 
identical  with  that  in  your  University.  Even  military  instruction 
is,  I  understand,  now  provided  in  the  University;  that  also  is  re¬ 
quired  in  the  proposed  college. 

Reorganize,  enlarge,  modify  your  State  University  as  you  think 
best — that  is  wholly  in  ypur  power  as  a  Legislature — but  there  is 
every  reason  for  the  uniop  of  these  funds,  and  thus  doubling  their 
capacity. 

What  is  the  idea  pf  the  American  University  as  in  the  process  of 


20 


time  it  has  developed  itself?  It  is  the  college  of  literature  and  sci¬ 
ence  with  its  associated  schools  of  application,  its  practical  and  pro¬ 
fessional  schools.  In  this  sense,  Harvard,  which  was  originally  but 
the  college,  has,  with  its  super-added  schools  of  law,  medicine,  en¬ 
gineering,  mining,  and  other  practical  schools,  become  the  Univer¬ 
sity.  So  Yale,  which  is  still  called  college ,  is,  with  its  associated 
school,  the  proper  University.  The  same  is  true  of  Michigan,  and 
I  am  laboring  to  bring  the  Missouri  State  University  to  this  ideal. 
This  is  the  University  which  your  present  educational  advancement 
requires.  You  want  the  practical  school  to  round  out  and  com¬ 
plete  the  University.  The  united  funds  so  far  from  being  too  much, 
are  absolutely  not  sufficient  for  an  institution  such  as  you  need  and 
ought  to  have.  The  University  Fund  is  •insufficient  for  the  Uni¬ 
versity.  Still  less  will  the  land  grant  support  the  College  of  Agri¬ 
culture  and  Mechanic  Arts  in  all  the  amplitude  required  by  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  the  grant. 

If  you  unite  the  two  funds  by  making  the  proposed  College  a 
department  of  the  University,  you  can  at  once  expend  every  dollar 
coming  from  the  grant,  upon  the  strictly  agricultural  and  mechan¬ 
ical  arts ;  if  you  attempt  to  make  it  a  separate  institution,  you  must 
expend  most  of  the  fund  to  provide  elementary  instruction — the 
very  instruction  which  you  now  have  in  the  University.  Hence  those 
States  which  adopt  the  wisest  educational  policy,  have  turned 
over  this  fund  to  create  or  support  a  department  in  an  existing  in¬ 
stitution  which  already  affords  much  of  the  instruction  required. 
rfhus  Connecticut  has  given  her  share  of  this  bounty  to  the  Shef¬ 
field  Scientific  School,  which  is  a  Department  of  Yale.  Rhode 
Island  has  given  hers  to  support  a  Scientific  School  in  Brown  Uni¬ 
versity.  Vermont  unites  hers  with  the  endowment  and  scientific 
collections  of  Vermont  University.  New  Hampshire  forms  such 
q.  connection  with  Dartmouth  as  to  make  the  new  institution  essen¬ 
tially  a  department  of  that  institution.  Massachusetts  alone  of  all 
the  States,  divides  the  fund,  giving  one-third  to  the  school  of  Tech¬ 
nology  at  Boston,  already  having  a  large  endowment,  and  the 
remainder  to  the  Agricultural  School  at  Amherst,  which  enjoys  all 
the  advantages  of  Amherst  College.  New  Jersey  gives  her  portion 
to  establish  a  Scientific  School  in  connection  with  the  New  Bruns¬ 
wick  College.  New  York  unites  her  whole  share  arising  from 
990,000  acres  with  the  immense  Cornell  endowment.  Kentucky 
and  Wisconsin  give  their  proportion  of  the  grant  to  their  State 


Universities.  While  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Michigan  and  Iowa, 
give  theirs  to  Agricultural  Colleges  which  had  been  established 
before  the  grant  was  made.  I  cannot  doubt  but  Missouri,  which 
is  one  of  the  States  which  has  not  yet  acted,  will  follow  in  the  line 
of  safe  precedent,  and  give  this  fund  for  the  required  College  to  be 
a  part  of  the  State  University.  I  ought  to  add  that  the  county  of 
Boone  and  town  of  Columbia,  where  the  Missouri  University  is 
situated,  offer  a  bonus  of  not  less  than  $75,000  for  the  location. 
In  Wisconsin,  the  bonus  for  the  location  was  a  cash  subscription  of 
$40,000  from  the  county.  In  Massachusetts,  the  town  of  Amherst 
gave  $50,000  as  a  condition.  These  localaids  were  required  in 
addition  to  the  advantages  and  inducements  offered  by  the 
University. 

States  may  often  learn  wisdom  from  the  example  of  successful 
business  men.  Fortunately  we  have  such  examples,  on  this  very 
subject,  of  some  of  the  most  sagacious  business  men  of  this  or  any 
other  country.  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence,  after  he  had  attained  great 
wealth,  resolved  to  establish  a  practical  scientific  school.  Where 
did  he  place  it?  Why,  as  a  department  in  connection  with  Har¬ 
vard  University. 

Joseph  E.  Sheffield  established  a  similar  department  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  Yale.  He  did  not  think  of  making  a  separate  and  inde¬ 
pendent  school. 

George  Peabody,  in  establishing  scientific  museums,  costing 
$150,000  each,  placed  one  in  connection  with  Harvard  University, 
the  other  in  connection  with  Yale  College. 

In  the  union  and  concentration  of  your  educational  forces  there 
is  strength  and  power.  To  divide  is  to  weaken,  to  waste,  to  de¬ 
stroy.  It  is  to  have  two  feeble  and  contemptible,  starving,  begging 
institutions  instead  of  one  strong  institution. 

Do  vou  know  the  annual  cost  of  our  highest  institutions?  Har- 
vard  expends  nearly  $200,000  a  year,  and  her  President,  in  his  din¬ 
ner  speech  at  the  last  commencement,  declared  that,  in  order  to 
keep  up  with  the  progress  of  the  times,  she  must  have  $100,000  a 
year  more.  Yale  expends  $130,000,  and  has  within  four  years  re¬ 
ceived  benefactions  to  the  amount  of  $728,000;  this  besides  Mr. 
Peabody’s  gift  of  $150,000  for  a  museum.  Columbia,  New 
York,  expends  $150,000.  Michigan,  as  I  have  said,  from  $60,000 
to  $80,000  a  year. 

Concentrate  the  two  funds,  and  you  will  have  the  means  of 


making  a  noble  beginning.  Yon  will  thus  best  carry  out  the  de¬ 
sign  of  both  endowments.  They  will  mutually  aid  each  other. 
You  will  elevate  the  practical  arts;  you  will  make  the  trades  pro¬ 
fessions;  you  will  place  the  educated  farmer  and  mechanic  on  the 
same  plane  with  the  lawyer,  the  physician,  and  the  clergyman,  and 
make  them  the  peers  of  each  other. 

I  shall  never  forget,  members  of  the  Legislature,  the  language  of 
a  Senator  of  the  Wisconsin  Legislature,  after  the  University  Bill 
had  passed  that  body.  It  was  the  Hon.  Jackson  Hadley  of  Mil¬ 
waukee,  a  man  who  had  been  for  years  a  leader  of  all  the  great 
measures  of  the  State, — an  active  leader  of  his  party, — a  man  who 
remained  at  his  post  while  he  was  literally  dying  piecemeal.  He 
had  introduced  the  bill,  and  when  it  became  a  law,  making  it  an 
assured  fact  that  Wisconsin  was  to  have  a  University  worthy  the 
State,  he  said  to  me :  “  1  now  at  last  feel  that  I  have  done  some¬ 

thing.  All  the  rest  of  my  legislative  life  may  go;  for,  what  is  a 
State,  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  without  its  great  institutions?” 

May  you,  members  of  the  Legislature,  at  the  close  of  this  ses¬ 
sion  have  the  same  satisfaction.  May  you  have  the  satisfaction — 
nay  more — the  pride  which  I  felt  when  your  worthy  Superintend¬ 
ent  said  the  other  evening,  “  The  State  of  Indiana  has  eight  mil¬ 
lions  as  her  School  Fund.”  I  said  to  myself,  I  too  had  a  share  in 
creating  this  fund.  As  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention 
I  voted  for  every  measure  to  increase  the  School  Fund.  Had  I  not 
done  so,  I  should  feel  ashamed  to  stand  here  to-ni  ght. 

But,  fellow  citizens,  I  have  too  long  detained  you.  I  have 
spoken  upon  topics  in  regard  to  which,  possibly,  you  may  feel  that 
I  have  transcended  the  limits  of  propriety.  But  if  a  lifetime  of 
service  in  the  cause  of  education  here  in  the  West — if  long  years 
of  experience,  and  as  careful  an  examination  of  our  American 
institutions  of  learning  as  it  is  possible  to  make — if  these  will 
entitle  me  to  speak  freely  on  subjects  of  education  here  in  the 
West,  then  surely  I  may  claim  that  privilege  ;  I  am  at  least  bound 
by  no  special,  local  or  personal  interest  or  ties. 

I  speak  for  the  State,  and  for  the  interests  of  the  country,  so  far 
as  bound  up  in  Indiana.  1  confess  to  this  much  of  Western 
pride,  1  would  have  in  all  our  Western  States,  institutions  at  least 
equal  to  those  of  any  other  portion  of  our  common  country,  and  I 
propose  and  advocate  in  regard  to  these  institutions,  the  course  by 
which  alone,  in  my  judgment,  this  end  may  be  attained. 


23 


But,  upon  still  another  ground,  T  claim  the  right  to  plead  before 
the  altar  of  our  common  country  for  all  those  institutions  which 
tend  to  unite  and  exalt  the  American  people. 

Upon  that  altar,  my  family  has  devoted  sacrifices,  compared 
with  which  my  life  is  the  merest  nothing.  That  altar  is  even  yet 
all  wet  and  dripping  with  the  blood  of  one,  and  another,  and  still 
another  more  precious  than  that  of  my  own  heart. 

The  last  victim  (two  brothers  had  already  fallen)  was  that  dar¬ 
ing  young  officer,  (he  was  a  graduate  of  your  own  University,  and 
a  law  student  of  Judge  Hughes,)  the  Adjutant  General  of  the 
Army  of  the  James,  who  planted  himself  before  the  High  Bridge 
of  the  Appomattox,  and  there  with  his  three  regiments  held  in 
check  Lee’s  whole  retreating  army. 

The  heroic  stand  which  he  with  his  gallant  few  made  at  that 
pass,  the  very  Thermopolae  of  the  war,  where  nearly  every  man  of 
that  Spartan  band  sacrificed  his  life  in  desperate  hand-to-hand 
resistance,  brought  about  the  grand  event  which  at  once  followed. 
The  tournament  of  death  in  which  he,  the  commander,  and  his  foe- 
man  the  leader  of  Lee’s  cavairy,  fell  by  each  others  hand  in  deadly 
encounter,  Vvas  almost  the  last  scene  of  blood  in  the  nation’s  great 
tragedy.  In  that  young  hero,  my  only  representative,  perished  my 
pride  and  my  brightest  earthly  hopes,  and  I  stand  before  you  now 
but  a  barren  trunk,  stripped  by  the  ruthless  hurricane  of  war  which 
has  swept  over  the  land,  of  every  branch  and  green  leaf. 

One  object,  fellow  citizens,  alone  remains  to  me — to  live  my  life 
over  in  the  lives  of  pupils  as  good,  as  true,  as  patriotic,  as  accom¬ 
plished  in  person  and  mind,  as  well  as  fitted  to  perform  all  the  offi¬ 
ces  of  peace  and  war,  as  was  he  whom  I  had  looked  to  represent 
my  name  and  family  when  I  should  be  gone.  And  now  I  renew 
the  vow  which  I  have  recorded  before  God,  to  spend  whatever  of 
life  remains  to  me  in  ennobling  and  making  glorious,  so  far  as  in 
me  lies,  that  country  regenerated  and  saved  by  blood  poured  from 
my  own  veins  and  mingled  with  that  of  the  vast  army  of  patriot 
martyrs. 

This  is  my  apology,  if  any  were  necessary  before  such  an  audi¬ 
ence  as  this,  or,  when  I  stand  here  in  Indiana,  where  I  spent  some 
of  my  best  years,  this  my  apology  for  freely  uttering  my  sentiments 
for  the  upbuilding  of  grand  and  noble  institutions  which  will  dig¬ 
nify,  adorn  and  illustrate  not  only  Indiana,  but  through  her  the  na¬ 
tion  itself,  our  common  country,  our  glorious  Republic,  its  only 
stain  now  washed  crut  by  patriot  blood. 


' 

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■  ;  ffctj  .I,  {  l  * 


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;  .  '  ■'  I  ‘ 

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